GNE - SuperTwin, I'm sending get well vibes your way (along with Qhuinn...I'm sure he'll make you feel better)!

I like "The Craft" and "Practical Magic". Although they are both about witches they aren't about Halloween, except "Practical Magic" ends with Halloween. I haven't seen "The Covenant" any good? "Practical Magic" is one of my favorite movies.

This begs a very important questions: Does a "Halloween Movie" need to have the holiday in it to be considered an appropriate holiday movie? Or does it need to incorporate those elements we deem as inherent in the holiday, for instance: witches, vampires, etc.

I am the Impulsive VampVixen.Thanks toSprtyGalandFryfor the AWESOME banner!

Halloween movies must have the holiday in them to be considered a Halloween movie. Otherwise they are either a scary movie or a monster movie or whatever.

It's like Christmas movies must have the Christmas holiday in them. Santa is the personification of gift-giving and charity aka the Christmas Spirit, so a movie with Santa is a Christmas movie. Eight Below has snow, but it isn't a Christmas movie.

Twilight has vampires, and so does Interview with the Vampire, but I wouldn't consider either one of them Halloween movies.

GNE... that is so true. A Halloween movie must have Halloween in the movie. I just google searched halloween movies and "Top 20" Halloween movies came up and not one of the movies were Halloween in nature. Scary does not equal Halloween. The Rocky Horror Picture show is not Halloween.

Spooky, I did that same search the other day. RHPS is indeed NOT Halloween. Friday the 13th, Freddy Kruger, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre may be scary, but they aren't Halloween movies.

I love The Covenant (Steven mmmm), Practical Magic, An American Werewolf in London, Teen Witch (remember that?), but I wouldn't consider any of them to be Halloween movies.

What does The Christmas Story, Santa Claus 1-3, Christmas in Connecticutt, Frosty the Snowman, The Grinch, Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer, Home Alone 1, and It's a Wonderful Life all have in common? They are all Christmas movies. Why, you ask? Because they all involve the Christmas holiday not just because they have elements that are a part of Christmas.

Ah, Halloween movies. I don't think I have a favorite. I've been reading the pages and understand GNE, why you say that Halloween movies need to have an element of the holiday in it to be classified as such, like the Christmas movies you listed. It seems that Halloween is the only holiday that we get to "celebrate" the haunting themes of some movies, like ghosts, witches, vampires... well, that and the twice-yearly that Friday the 13th comes around.

It seems so weird seeing you all saying 'holiday' for Halloween. In Britain, we don't really call stuff like that a holiday. Holidays are just Christmas, Easter, summer, and October, ie, the school holidays. Halloween is just a day - you maybe go guising at night if your under 12, or have a relative/friend under 12 to go round with, or go to a party with some friends, but we don't generally do much.

It's really interesting how we have people from so many different cultures here on the Lex.

When I originally asked the question, "What is your favorite 'Halloween' movie?", for the purposes of this discussion, I defined a Halloween movie as one with the holiday in it, rather than a generic "scary" movie.

Yes, there are a lot of movies with Halloween elements, such as witches, vampires, black cats and ghosts, etc. I also recognized that various individual, family or community traditions can associate a movie with a holiday. (In my family, mid-50's - early 60's, The Wizard of Oz became a Christmas tradition - go figure. It was broadcast each year during the two weeks before Christmas. As a side note, I was an adult before I realized that The Wizard of Oz was a color film. We'd only seen it on a 9 inch black and white TV - hey, it was state of the art, tubes and all. Most of our neighbors didn't have a TV.)

So I see a difference between movies that contain Halloween and movies that people like to see at Halloween. I love both, but if we could list our favorites in the appropriate group, we won't be talking at cross purposes here. I mean, I would hate to think that someone would spend a vast amount of time searching for a Halloween reference in The Corpse Bride when there wasn't one.

"Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here." Sue Kidd Monk, The Secret Life of Bees, Chapter 6

I like to think (although it is a lame connection, I admit) that "Practical Magic" is a Halloween film. It ends with Halloween showing the witches jumping off the house. Doesn't that count? Especially since they talk about Halloween traditions earlier in the movie. Any one agree? How much of the holiday needs to be involved??

I am the Impulsive VampVixen.Thanks toSprtyGalandFryfor the AWESOME banner!

dragon-girl wrote:It seems so weird seeing you all saying 'holiday' for Halloween. In Britain, we don't really call stuff like that a holiday. Holidays are just Christmas, Easter, summer, and October, ie, the school holidays. Halloween is just a day - you maybe go guising at night if your under 12, or have a relative/friend under 12 to go round with, or go to a party with some friends, but we don't generally do much.

It's really interesting how we have people from so many different cultures here on the Lex.

Even here in the States, we have different categories for holidays. My work recognizes MLK day, Good Friday, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The banks in town recognize all those plus Presidents Day and Columbus Day. Plus, we also have Mothers Day and Fathers Day - but they are held on Sundays, so schools and banks are closed anyway.

Halloween and St. Valentine's Day may not be official holidays like Christmas or Easter, but many people still celebrate them.

Wow - I never realized how many holidays we have. Perhaps it really is a conspiracy created by the greeting card companies.

NovaAlbion wrote:So I see a difference between movies that contain Halloween and movies that people like to see at Halloween. I love both, but if we could list our favorites in the appropriate group, we won't be talking at cross purposes here. I mean, I would hate to think that someone would spend a vast amount of time searching for a Halloween reference in The Corpse Bride when there wasn't one.

I mentioned Grumpier Old Men earlier because there is a scene where some of the characters went trick or treating. It has a scene in it, but it isn't a Halloween movie. We mentioned ET earlier. What makes it a Halloween movie?

Una: I was just wondering that too. I was writing that it wasn't even though it had witches and a scene at the end with them celebrating Halloween. That makes it just as much a Halloween movie as ET, right? The most important scenes in the movie take place while ET wears a ghosty sheet. The action takes place at Halloween time. I don't know if it is or isn't, but I like it.

Goodnight Elizabeth wrote:Even here in the States, we have different categories for holidays. My work recognizes MLK day, Good Friday, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The banks in town recognize all those plus Presidents Day and Columbus Day. Plus, we also have Mothers Day and Fathers Day - but they are held on Sundays, so schools and banks are closed anyway.

We have bank holidays and stuff, too, where we get a long weekend, but if you were to ask someone 'what's your favourite holiday?' they would be more likely to say 'The time I went to the Caribbean with my family last summer' or something like that, than 'Halloween'.

Movies... hmm... my friends would all watch stuff like Final Destination, but I don't really like those kinds of 'horror films'. Oh! I know a good one - Wallace & Grommit in 'Curse of the Were-rabbit' - that's absolutely hilarious, and manages to make a giant rabbit made from plastercine scary. Great film.